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The last ten years has seen an explosion in the amount of new, small breweries. The London ones tend to be “hipster” beers - powerfully hopped and citrusy. I prefer more balanced ales myself. If you go into a Fullers pub for the London Pride you mentioned, you may find they have Dark Star Hophead which is delightful. Fullers tookover Dark Star earlier this year.

There are so many ales available these days, it's great fun sampling them all. Happy beer hunting !

Hophead is a wonderful summer beer but, for me, not so much in winter.

The hipster beers 222gers mentions are mainly IPAs, and there are loads of them. However, after a while, you do get a bit tired of the taste of grapefruit.

Doombar is sadly not what it was before Coors acquired the Sharps brewery. I never drink it now.

If you like high percentage beers you'll probably enjoy sampling some of Brewdogs over strength ales which are served in third pint glasses. The few I've tried have ranged from quite nice to quite bizarre!

Hophead is still a great beer. Not quite as good as it was four or five years ago, but then DS replaced the head brewer. Now it's effectively a Fuller's beer, we'll have to see if it changes much. I would hope not as Fuller's often have the sense to leave well alone.

On the other hand, when Fuller's do change things, they do it quite well. Like when they changed how they brew London Pride or moved the production of HSB to Chiswick.

Hophead is still a great beer. Not quite as good as it was four or five years ago, but then DS replaced the head brewer. Now it's effectively a Fuller's beer, we'll have to see if it changes much. I would hope not as Fuller's often have the sense to leave well alone.

On the other hand, when Fuller's do change things, they do it quite well. Like when they changed how they brew London Pride or moved the production of HSB to Chiswick.

One criticism of Fullers is that two of their Gold Medal winning beers - Chiswick and ESB have all but disappeared in favour of rubbish like Oliver's Island and some other grapefruit tasting beers.
Chiswick was relegated to a seasonal beer last year and has disappeared altogether now. The mighty ESB is only available in certain pubs and to my mind isn't as good as it used to be.

One criticism of Fullers is that two of their Gold Medal winning beers - Chiswick and ESB have all but disappeared in favour of rubbish like Oliver's Island and some other grapefruit tasting beers.
Chiswick was relegated to a seasonal beer last year and has disappeared altogether now. The mighty ESB is only available in certain pubs and to my mind isn't as good as it used to be.

Chiswick is very much an old fashioned session bitter of the type that's really fallen out of fashion. ESB, as you suggest, is a classic. I uesed to hate it as a youngster but now ... wow!

Oliver's Island is a bit 'meh!' I've had worse, but I've had far better. It's an old-fashioned brewery's attempt at a more modern beer - a bit like Horizon. Sometimes they'd be better off sticking to what the craft boys dismissively (and stupidly) refer to as 'brown beer with twigs'. I take it from your 'grapefruit' comments that you're not a fan of the citra hop and its ilk. So the likes of Oakham and a lot of the craft stuff is not to your palate?

Craft beer and over-hopping for the sake of it. That's a whole different discussion.

One criticism of Fullers is that two of their Gold Medal winning beers - Chiswick and ESB have all but disappeared in favour of rubbish like Oliver's Island and some other grapefruit tasting beers.
Chiswick was relegated to a seasonal beer last year and has disappeared altogether now. The mighty ESB is only available in certain pubs and to my mind isn't as good as it used to be.

Chiswick is very much an old fashioned session bitter of the type that's really fallen out of fashion. ESB, as you suggest, is a classic. I uesed to hate it as a youngster but now ... wow!

Oliver's Island is a bit 'meh!' I've had worse, but I've had far better. It's an old-fashioned brewery's attempt at a more modern beer - a bit like Horizon. Sometimes they'd be better off sticking to what the craft boys dismissively (and stupidly) refer to as 'brown beer with twigs'. I take it from your 'grapefruit' comments that you're not a fan of the citra hop and its ilk. So the likes of Oakham and a lot of the craft stuff is not to your palate?

Craft beer and over-hopping for the sake of it. That's a whole different discussion.

Spot on Don. I prefer old fashioned ales. I don't mind a few pints of citrus beers but tireof them quickly. As you rightly say, some breweries go over the top with the hops and offer
insufficient malt balance. It's great fun trying 'em all though eh ?

PS...another terrific beer from Fullers that is quite hard to find even in winter is the redoubtable London Porter. They did introduce a tasty winter ale last year at 5.3 per cent though.

Hophead is still a great beer. Not quite as good as it was four or five years ago, but then DS replaced the head brewer. Now it's effectively a Fuller's beer, we'll have to see if it changes much. I would hope not as Fuller's often have the sense to leave well alone.

On the other hand, when Fuller's do change things, they do it quite well. Like when they changed how they brew London Pride or moved the production of HSB to Chiswick.

One criticism of Fullers is that two of their Gold Medal winning beers - Chiswick and ESB have all but disappeared in favour of rubbish like Oliver's Island and some other grapefruit tasting beers.
Chiswick was relegated to a seasonal beer last year and has disappeared altogether now. The mighty ESB is only available in certain pubs and to my mind isn't as good as it used to be.

I love ESB, and share your frustration at its gradual disappearance. Even Fullers' pubs increasingly don't seem to bother with it. The Salutation in Hammersmith still has it, if you drink around that area before or after games. Always enjoyed their London Porter too, but in my experience, that's even harder to find.

Hophead is still a great beer. Not quite as good as it was four or five years ago, but then DS replaced the head brewer. Now it's effectively a Fuller's beer, we'll have to see if it changes much. I would hope not as Fuller's often have the sense to leave well alone.

On the other hand, when Fuller's do change things, they do it quite well. Like when they changed how they brew London Pride or moved the production of HSB to Chiswick.

One criticism of Fullers is that two of their Gold Medal winning beers - Chiswick and ESB have all but disappeared in favour of rubbish like Oliver's Island and some other grapefruit tasting beers.
Chiswick was relegated to a seasonal beer last year and has disappeared altogether now. The mighty ESB is only available in certain pubs and to my mind isn't as good as it used to be.

I love ESB, and share your frustration at its gradual disappearance. Even Fullers' pubs increasingly don't seem to bother with it. The Salutation in Hammersmith still has it, if you drink around that area before or after games. Always enjoyed their London Porter too, but in my experience, that's even harder to find.

As Don says, Fullers are moving some of traditional beers to one side to make way for the newer beers. Presumably they know their business and sales of the new beers justifies this.
As you say the Sally in Kings Street still has ESB. My favourite Fullers pub is the Mawson next to the brewery which always has ESB. The Mawson has strange opening hours of 8 am to 8 pm to cater for brewery workers coming off shift and visitors. Until recently they didn't open at weekends but now open Saturday. As a retired person I can avail myself of these hours !